Who let the dogs out?

While their dogs frolicked in the irrigated pasture, about 25 dog owners cleaned up after less responsible pet owners Saturday in a multi-use field that’s part of Rancho San Rafael. Formerly home to a herd of Washoe County cows, the pasture at Rancho San Rafael is considered by many to be the most dog friendly, fenced, no-leash area in the Truckee Meadows. According to park rangers, the hundreds of daily users make it one of the most popular regional parks.

Laura Griffen and her two grandsons were among those braving the wet field and fighting for the area to remain open all year long. Citizen activists began worrying about the possible closure of the park when, in October, county workers put up a gate to block traffic on what had been used as an access road into the area. That seemed, to some, a dismal sign of things to come.

“What caused the whole donnybrook was when they closed the gate,” Griffen said. “That’s OK for the able-bodied, but others have been shut out.”

Volunteer poo-scooper Steve Laden said he worries that the road closure is just the beginning of the end for the area.

“It would be awful for the owners and the dogs if this park is closed,” Laden said. “It’s been quite a community of people and dogs, here. After all, parks are for the people, and at most times during the year, it’s the dog owners you will find out here.”

Gwen Bourne, an activist who helped organize the dog-doo cleanup Saturday, said she knows of two elderly individuals who are not able to walk the distance added by the road closure. Bourne is also circulating a petition, asking the Washoe County Parks department not to close this favorite park frequented by the walkers of canine pets.

Just about every dog owner Bourne encounters agrees that the multi-use area, adjacent to where vendor booths are set up during Reno’s balloon races, should remain open. Bourne and her dog, Honey, have been among the hundreds who’ve visited the park about every day for past couple of years. She’s not worried only about the closure of the road—and the possible closure of the pet-walking area—but also about how these changes come about.

“What I found out was that the decision to close the road was made unilaterally,” Bourne said. “There was no public hearing, no opportunity for the public to comment; even the rangers were not consulted.”

When county workers gated the multi-use area last fall, they received only a few complaints, said Karen Mullen, director of Washoe County Parks and Recreation.

“It’s not a road; it’s a trail they were driving on,” Mullen said. “From a liability standpoint … we had a mom and her child almost hit up there. Also, it’s clear in the master plan that the interior area is to be hiking trails.”

Until about four years ago, the area had been pasture for a herd of cattle. To open the area up for a variety of uses—from kite flying to dog walking—the county moved cattle to the north side of the park. At that time, the area was still closed off during hay season, from mid-April to early July. The county leased the land to a business that uses flood irrigation to keep the area green and then harvests the hay that grows there.

About a year ago, due to increased demand, rangers began allowing residents to use the area all year long.

“People said, ‘We don’t care if it’s wet,'” Mullen said. “So rangers opened it up even more.”

Andy Mink, Washoe County Parks ranger at Rancho San Rafael, said that park staff has not received any complaints about the popular no-leash area. The only issue, he said, has to do with the irrigation and cutting of hay in the pasture.

“There is some concern that the dogs are trampling the grass so that there is less hay,” Mink said. “But the size of the leased area is so small, now, that the lease is no longer lucrative for either the park or the rancher.”

According to Mink, the multi-use area sees plenty of action. The dogs and their owners are easy to get along with, and everyone is pretty good about cleaning up after their pooches.

“It’s a lot cleaner than we expected,” he said. “About the only impact on staff is that, for obvious reasons, we have to dump the trashcans more often.”

While a few stretches of turf at Rancho are watered using overhead spray irrigation, flood irrigation keeps much of the park green. Mullen estimates that the flood irrigation deal saves the county millions of dollars.

“The park advisory board has said in the past to continue flood irrigation until we can convert or do something else,” Mullen said. “What we’re looking at is how can we provide for the multi-use area and keep it green. How do you balance everyone’s needs out there, so that when they go there, it looks like what they expected?”

Bourne, a former school administrator and now a Reno paralegal, said that in a recent conversation with Mullen, the director made it clear that plans were in the works to close the dog park.

“We talked for two and a half hours, and she talked 95 percent of the time,” Bourne said. “She didn’t want any input, just laid down the law.”

At the April meeting of the Rancho San Rafael Park Advisory Committee, Mullen introduced the idea of closing the multi-use area during the irrigation and haying season. No action was taken at that time. Mullen said that it would likely be late in the summer before the idea was decided. That will give the advisory committee time to post meetings and glean public input.

“We’re really trying to work with people to find solutions,” she said.

Bourne said she wants to be sure of having a say in the matter.

“We all have different viewpoints,” Bourne said. “I just want the administration to listen to the viewpoints, not make unilateral decisions.”

Deidre Pike contributed to this story.